17-Sep-2026 -- This was a return visit to a Degree Confluence Point that I remember fondly from August 2000, when I made the first recorded visit to this point. I was eager to return to this point with (1) a better camera, (2) a better GPS receiver, and (3) a drone - so I could record (1) better photos; (2) ‘all zeros’; and (3) a ‘drone’s-eye' view of the point. I managed to get two out of three; I wasn’t able to get ‘all zeros’, but only because my GPS receiver now has 6 digits of resolution after the decimal point (instead of 5).

As before, I reached the point by crossing the Sherwood Lake dam and spillway, climbing (eastward) up the Virginia Trail, then turning left to hike (northwards) on the Allegheny Mountain Trail along a ridge that marks the boundary between Virginia (to the right) and West Virginia (to the left). As I was hiking along the Allegheny Mountain Trail, I briefly saw a black bear in the distance in front of me, but unfortunately it ran away before I could photograph it. The Allegheny Mountain Trail passes just 340 feet East of the point. Once again, it was an easy hike to get down to the point, but - unlike in August 2000 - I didn’t see any fungus growing nearby. The summer of 2000 was unusually wet - but apparently not this summer.

Fortunately I was able to find a small gap in the tree canopy which allowed me to launch my drone. Here is a remote-controlled aerial video of this confluence point.

Afterwards, I drove westward to Babcock State Park, to try to visit [38,-81] - a point that had eluded me in August 2000. Unfortunately - being after Labor Day - the access road towards this point was now closed to motor vehicles, so I didn’t have time to attempt to visit that point - which remains a ‘white whale’ for me.